Chapter 201

Chapter 201

The moment I teleported into the black-and-white world, a flood of negative emotions surged toward me. Just as Qi Huang had said, countless bad words about the people around me and this world echoed in my ears.

If it were an ordinary person, hearing such things abruptly amidst the disorientation of crossing worlds might actually plant seeds of resentment. But by sheer coincidence, my true complaints about this world—or rather, my trigger for darkening—were things that could never be voiced in this manga world.

That is, the fact that this world is actually a manga, and all of us are being manipulated by the author.

Thus, the words swirling around me were trivial nonsense: I was a jinx who cursed my parents, my luck was so bad it felt like the world was targeting me, or despite feeling bored, I was forced to play along with everyone else’s act…

I was practically unmoved, not even a furrow in my brow. How should I put it? It felt like two sides hurling insults, with the other side angrily shouting, “Are you an idiot?” I wasn’t even mad enough to darken; I actually found it a bit funny.

Without a doubt, I was the first to snap out of it. But there was one person who came to at the same time as me—Mo Xiaotian. He, too, was completely unaffected, eagerly looking around before locking eyes with me, his gaze lighting up.

That eye contact gave me the sudden sensation of meeting the stare of a taxi driver at a train station.

Before I could step back, Mo Xiaotian had already bounded over enthusiastically: “Su Bei, Su Bei, what did you hear just now? I kept hearing someone muttering by my ear that I’m so dumb, you guys would definitely despise me. So annoying, but good thing it didn’t last long.”

“Me?” Mo Xiaotian scratched his head. “I think I’m pretty smart.”

I was speechless.

I’d never seen someone so oblivious to their own limits.

Before I could say anything, someone else beat me to the punch: “Pfft! Mo Xiaotian, can you have a shred of self-awareness? Look at your grades before you talk!”

It was Qi Huang, who had also snapped out of it. This wasn’t her first time in a Nightmare Beast world; she was mentally prepared. Plus, with her naturally straightforward personality, she didn’t bottle things up, so she wasn’t much affected and woke up quickly.

She’d been in a foul mood from hearing those words earlier, but the moment she came to and heard Mo Xiaotian, she couldn’t help but laugh.

Mo Xiaotian, unashamed despite his weak argument, shot back: “My grandpa said I’m wise in my foolishness.”

There was no countering that. Who could clearly define the line between great wisdom disguised as folly and plain stupidity? The two of us exchanged a glance and both chose to shut up. Arguing with an idiot about idiotic things only drags you down to their level.

Soon, the others gradually came to. It was obvious they’d all heard less-than-pleasant things, and without Mo Xiaotian’s bizarre comments to lighten the mood, their faces were grim when they woke.

No one felt like talking, silently waiting for the rest to wake up.

“Why hasn’t Ah-Jiang woken up yet?” After a while, noticing Jiang Tianming still with his eyes closed, Lan Subing showed a worried expression. At her words, everyone turned to look at Jiang Tianming.

Sure enough, Jiang Tianming’s eyes remained shut, his brows furrowed tightly, as if caught in some intense struggle.

“He hasn’t been affected by those voices, has he?” Si Zhaohua asked with a frown, turning to Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing. “Does Tianming have any… sad memories?”

“Sad memories” was a polite way of putting it. More accurately, it was his “dark side.” The voices in the Nightmare Beast world would amplify a person’s dark side to the fullest. If someone couldn’t resist the temptation of their dark side, their mind would be consumed by it.

At this question, Wu Mingbai and Lan Subing exchanged a glance, both understanding the other’s meaning. Jiang Tianming had plenty of sad memories—his orphan status, occasional bullying, or the death of the orphanage’s headmistress. But the biggest secret was probably his Ability.

As Jiang Tianming’s closest friends, perhaps only the two of them knew about his Ability and how much he feared it. He’d even told them once, “If one day I start killing recklessly to boost my strength, you must stop me without hesitation, even if it means killing me.”

Seeing their grim expressions, Si Zhaohua tactfully didn’t press further, just patiently waited for Jiang Tianming to open his eyes. The others did the same; they didn’t believe Jiang Tianming would truly be swayed by mere verbal prodding.

And Jiang Tianming didn’t let them down. In less than five minutes, he successfully opened his eyes, his ink-black gaze as clear as ever.

“Sorry for making everyone wait.” Seeing all the worried looks fixed on him the moment he opened his eyes, Jiang Tianming quickly understood what had happened and offered an apology.

Qi Huang shook her head. “It’s fine. Hurry and find the coordinates. Let’s figure out where we need to go to find the Heart Nightmare Beast.”

Though they knew the coordinates of the Heart Nightmare Beast’s gathering spot, they couldn’t possibly teleport directly there—that’d be like lambs walking into a tiger’s den.

Their teleportation spot was about three to four hundred meters from the Heart Nightmare Beast’s gathering place, far enough not to be sensed by them but close enough to make finding them feasible.

While searching for the gathering spot, I observed the Nightmare Beast world. The world’s dominant color was gray, composed of varying shades of it, with the deepest parts almost black.

Perhaps because we arrived at midnight, the sky was a heavy, inky black. Not a trace of other colors, let alone stars or the moon.

If we hadn’t had the foresight to bring searchlights, we’d probably be blind by now.

Jiang Tianming, who hadn’t been to a Nightmare Beast world before, specifically asked about this, and Qi Huang replied concisely: “It gets a bit brighter during the day, but only slightly. You won’t need the searchlight then.”

The entire space felt oppressive. One moment we were chuckling at Mo Xiaotian’s antics, and the next, our joy naturally dissipated, sinking back below calm.

As the Academy’s introduction to Nightmare Beast worlds described, this place was insulated from all positive emotions. Once inside, you’d involuntarily feel down, stifled, uncomfortable, or even angry.

Even Mo Xiaotian’s smiles grew fewer. Normally, in a new place like this, he’d be the happiest one.

The Nightmare Beast world wasn’t an empty wasteland. Looking around, you could see black stones of varying sizes and trees—either withered or growing in eerie ways.

And, of course, the most common thing here: Nightmare Beasts. We got lucky; the spot we landed in didn’t seem to have any particularly strong Nightmare Beasts, just low-level ones like rabbits and rats. Without using Abilities, we easily wiped them out.

Using Abilities in the Nightmare Beast world required extra caution, or you’d easily attract stronger Nightmare Beasts. Ability users already drew their attention, and using Abilities made your “scent” stronger, making it easier for Nightmare Beasts to track you.

After clearing a batch of Nightmare Beasts and seeing more approaching from the distance, Ai Baozhu suddenly thought of something and pulled out a bottle of finely packaged pink perfume: “Come on, everyone, spray some. This is my specially prepared ‘Scentless Perfume.’ It can mask the Ability user aura on us.”

“Does it work even when using Abilities?” Lan Subing asked curiously while letting her spray.

Ai Baozhu shrugged. “Of course not. If it were that powerful, it’d have been bought out by all the major families long ago.”

If Ability users were like mutton, using Abilities was like roasting it. “Scentless Perfume” could only mask the mutton’s smell, turning it into, say, orange scent. But if you started roasting, the Nightmare Beasts would smell orange-roasted mutton. It couldn’t hide a thing.

Once everyone sprayed the perfume, the Nightmare Beasts indeed calmed down. Apart from a few that could see us, no more came rushing over specifically for us.

We could finally focus on finding the way. Si Zhaohua, a prop enthusiast, pulled out a compass with a dragon-seeking ruler attached: “This is a ‘Nightmare Beast Compass.’ It points to the area with the highest Nightmare Beast concentration, usually used to find the nearest gathering spot.”

He held up the compass and shook it in the air. The Nightmare Beast-seeking ruler moved on its own, pointing us in a direction.

“It should be this way,” Si Zhaohua said confidently.

We followed him in the direction indicated by the Nightmare Beast-seeking ruler, continuing to experience this strange and unfamiliar world.

Just like in the manga, the air was filled with tiny floating black-gray gravel. Despite the gravity feeling the same as the real world, these pebbles somehow defied it, hovering in the air.

I casually grabbed one of the tiny stones floating in the air and examined it in my palm. It looked no different from a real-world stone, but faintly, I could see tiny glimmers on its surface. Upon closer inspection, it had a subtle beauty, the kind that grows on you.

After some thought, I took the stone to Wu Mingbai: “Wu Mingbai, take a look. What kind of stone is this?”

Rarely being asked for help, Wu Mingbai took the stone with interest, examining it closely before using his Ability to sense it. If it were his original [Earth Element], he might not have been able to identify the stone’s composition.

But with his enhanced [Earth Element] at a much higher concentration, Wu Mingbai quickly concluded: “This is…”

Before he could finish, he suddenly reacted, flashing a bright, sunny smile.

Seeing that smile, I knew trouble was coming. Sure enough, Wu Mingbai asked excitedly: “What’s in it for me if I tell you?”

Those who overheard our conversation couldn’t help but snicker. It felt a bit like the tables had turned, but seeing me get the short end of the stick was undeniably amusing.

This move was like using my own tactics against me.

The wheel of fortune had turned, and now it was my turn to be on the receiving end. I felt a rare moment of helplessness. This question was important to me; I needed a definitive answer.

But important things couldn’t be revealed openly. I kept my expression neutral, even scoffing lightly, feigning indifference: “You misunderstanding something? My curiosity isn’t that strong. Forget it if you won’t tell.”

At that, Wu Mingbai scrutinized my expression, unsure if I genuinely didn’t care or was just being stubborn. He could only pout and answer: “It’s a meteorite, alright?”

No way around it—it was me, after all. He couldn’t really refuse to answer. No matter how I usually was, or how many times I’d slipped away, the help I provided at critical moments was always tangible. Even just for those times, he wouldn’t skimp on this small favor.

Getting the answer I wanted, I slightly curled my lips: “Thanks.”

Wu Mingbai’s answer confirmed my suspicion. The floating debris in the Nightmare Beast world was indeed fragments of the meteorites that caused the world’s transformation.

But this wasn’t good news. With the meteorite shattered into so many tiny pieces, how could they be gathered and destroyed?

My gaze returned to Wu Mingbai. It seemed only he could help me achieve my goal. But even though his [Earth Element] had undergone an epic enhancement, collecting all the meteorite fragments in the entire Nightmare Beast world was utterly impossible.

Knowing the author wouldn’t give Wu Mingbai another boost anytime soon—since the last one was recent and the schedule wouldn’t allow it—meant achieving my goal quickly was out of the question. I’d have to wait patiently. Perhaps during that time, I’d come up with another method.

“Just a thanks, no gesture?” My odd look made Wu Mingbai feel uneasy, and under that gaze, he persisted: “This is a rare chance to fleece you. I can’t let it slip.”

I withdrew my gaze, tilting my head: “If there’s a chance.”

If possible, I’d love to kill the Heart Nightmare Beast and help everyone out. Though my reason for helping was mostly for myself, it’s the deed that counts, not the motive. If I killed the Heart Nightmare Beast, wouldn’t that repay Wu Mingbai’s favor?

But some things weren’t up to me alone. Typically, in events like this, the spotlight would go to the protagonist trio—meaning one of Jiang Tianming, Wu Mingbai, or Lan Subing would likely kill the Nightmare Beast and successfully install a new heart for Mu Tieren.

Honestly, though, I felt their quest for the heart wouldn’t go smoothly. Why? The timeline was too generous. It was early Sunday morning, and Mu Tieren’s incident happened on Friday. According to Ye Lin yesterday, he could survive six days without a heart. That left five days from today.

But in typical shonen manga, shouldn’t the timeline be tight, with the heart installed at the very last second before Mu Tieren’s death to heighten the urgency?

With such a relaxed schedule, it felt like a conspiracy was brewing.

Meanwhile, the “Nightmare Beast Compass” finally stopped. Looking at the empty clearing, we exchanged glances. Qi Huang’s lips twitched as she turned to Si Zhaohua: “This is your so-called Heart Nightmare Beast gathering spot?”

“It shouldn’t be. The ‘Nightmare Beast Compass’ can’t be wrong.” Si Zhaohua was equally puzzled. His family had specially chosen this prop for him; it couldn’t betray him. Something must have gone wrong.

After thinking, he said confidently: “It’s probably underground. Yes, dig down, and we’ll see them.”

That was plausible. Wu Mingbai touched the ground, activating his Ability. The ground centered around his palm began to crack, splitting open an area of dozens of square meters.

The next second, countless black bugs burrowed out from the ground, relentlessly attacking the living beings above.

Everyone was startled, dodging attacks while frantically striking at the tiny bugs. The bugs were so small that without using area-of-effect Abilities, killing them was no easy task.

Why not use group attacks? Because that would attract more Nightmare Beasts. Group attack skills emitted a much stronger aura than single-target ones, especially something like Qi Huang’s flames, which were a magnet for Nightmare Beasts.

Using such skills in the heart of a Nightmare Beast lair, where they were as numerous as grains of sand, was suicidal.

But killing these bug Nightmare Beasts with single-target Abilities or pure physical strength was incredibly difficult. Even though they were just ordinary low-level Nightmare Beasts, easily crushed, their sheer numbers made eliminating them far from simple.

Ai Baozhu quickly activated [Gorgeous Domain], creating a small defensive space to shelter everyone.

“This is your Heart Nightmare Beast?” Inside [Gorgeous Domain], looking at the swarm of Nightmare Bugs outside, I teased Si Zhaohua.

Si Zhaohua, feeling guilty, touched his nose: “Ahem, it’s a Nightmare Beast swarm, isn’t it?”

Indeed, his prop was for finding Nightmare Beast swarms, but it never specified Heart Nightmare Beasts. Going off course was reasonable, especially since these bugs were more numerous.

“So what do we do now?” Ai Baozhu sighed. Without group attack skills, they couldn’t wipe out so many bugs. Her Ability could hold for a while, but it wasn’t a long-term solution.

“Back off!” Ling You shouted calmly, a green mist rising from her hand.

Clearly, she was about to use her Ability [Plague], just like when she wiped out hordes of bugs in the Illusion. Nightmare Bugs were still bugs and would be affected by [Plague].

Most importantly, despite causing massive damage and felling countless bugs, [Plague] was a single-target Ability. It only infected one target initially, and the rest were infected by that one, unrelated to her.

With Ling You’s help, the Nightmare Bugs were swiftly eradicated. Only five Nightmare Beasts were drawn by the Ability’s aura, and they were easily dealt with.

With the crisis resolved, Si Zhaohua took out the “Nightmare Beast Compass” again: “This swarm’s gone. The next one has to be the Heart Nightmare Beasts. Let’s go, I’ll lead.”

No one objected, following him in the direction of the pointer. Soon, we reached the destination, only to see a field full of black rabbits, plunging us into silence.

“…Give me one more chance. Next time, it’ll definitely work!” After clearing the Nightmare Rabbits, Si Zhaohua had turned into a gambler. He refused to believe the “Nightmare Beast Compass” could keep failing. How could this place have so many different Nightmare Beast swarms?

Jiang Tianming checked the time—it was already 5 a.m. After a moment’s thought, he nodded: “Last chance.”

If the “Nightmare Beast Compass” still couldn’t lead them to the target this time, they’d have to find another way. They couldn’t keep wasting time like this.

Luckily, Si Zhaohua’s luck wasn’t that bad. The third time, they finally found the place. From a distance, seeing a pile of black hearts lying on the ground, we knew we’d come to the right spot. I thought to myself, this was only because it was Si Zhaohua. If it were me or Jiang Tianming, with our worse luck, even the thirtieth try might not have found the Heart Nightmare Beasts with the “Nightmare Beast Compass.”

Since Heart Nightmare Beasts had a wide perception range, we cautiously kept our distance, preparing to follow the plan. Si Zhaohua would use his Ability to lure a Heart Nightmare Beast over, Mo Xiaotian would interrupt its skill, and the rest of us would kill it to get the heart.

But before we could find a good angle, we warily huddled together, all looking at a few black-clad figures approaching from nearby.

“You’re finally here,” the lead Purple-Haired Woman said irritably. “Why are you so late? Do you know how long we’ve been waiting?”

She spoke as if we’d made an appointment.

We all turned to Si Zhaohua. Why were we late? Because a certain someone’s prop kept leading us astray.

Speaking of which, this Purple-Haired Woman looked familiar. Jiang Tianming, with his sharp memory, immediately identified her: “You’re from the ‘Black Flash’ organization!”

Back during the first semester’s monthly exam team battle, this woman had wielded a whip with skill, leaving him and Si Zhaohua scrambling. If I hadn’t shown up to deal with her, they might not have won.

At that thought, he couldn’t help glancing at me.

The Purple-Haired Woman followed Jiang Tianming’s gaze to me, her red lips curling: “Su Bei, right? Remember me?”

“Don’t remember,” I answered sincerely.

Though I didn’t recall her initially, Jiang Tianming’s reminder jogged my memory. A minor villain from way back—it’s no wonder I didn’t recognize her at first. But she was somewhat special, or I wouldn’t have remembered her so quickly after the prompt.

Choked by my response, the woman’s face twisted briefly, her lips flattening, but she quickly recovered: “No matter. This time, when I drag you back, I’ll make sure you remember me.”

I flashed a smile: “That’s something to look forward to.”

The next second, I tore an Invisibility Charm, vanishing on the spot.

“This again?” Qi Huang couldn’t help rolling her eyes.

Not just her—Jiang Tianming and the others were used to this and sighed in exasperation. My escape moves were too practiced. I’d just said something tough, only to dump the mess on them. Was this really something a person would do?